Warren Fahey Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 I know some of you avidly search ebay on a regular basis looking for the dream machine so here's a question from one who only occasionally has a look. Has the number of concertinas on offer reduced dramatically or am I looking on off weeks? I recall seeing up to 100 or more used concertinas but lately I can only see around a dozen. Supply and demand? Or has that person in the north of England given up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjmiller Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I don't know about the market overall, but just the other day it occurred to me that for several months now there has been a weird lack of Edeophones for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Taylor Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Almost every concertina on eBay is listed by Chris Algar - and very few are sold. There seems to be a lack of both supply and demand which seems very odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david robertson Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Almost every concertina on eBay is listed by Chris Algar... A very odd claim - indeed, a very odd thread altogether. A quick look on eBay today shows more than 50 concertinas, of which four are listed by Chris Algar. As for the number unsold, this nay have something to do with unrealistic expectations, as in the case of the rather tatty Crane which was originally listed with a starting price of £2200, and has gradually worked its way down to the current £750 (still no takers). Or, of course, it may have something to do with Chris's constant reminder to bidders that most instruments on eBay will cost hundreds of pounds to put in playing order! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I bought a concertina from an eBay auction earlier this year and there were three of the same model listed that week... Whilst there could be a Summer lull in the northern hemisphere and the era of silly prices has passed ( perhaps momentarily) which might have an effect on those who are holding out for the return of the gravy train. I am one who will check in at eBay each day but have only once purchased a concertina that way. Better to use the contacts found here at Cnet... 2/3rds of the concertinas in my house have been sourced through these forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Then only significant change I'm able to see is in fact that not only just the silly prices are gone but the over all price level has dropped to some extent compared with the market in 2011 when I bought my instrument - however I don't regret having acquired it at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Very strange indeed. Just searched on ebay uk for "concertina" and found 202 hits, only three of which are from Chris Algar. Not all really are concertinas of course, but more than half are. And there is an edeophone in there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Jowaisas Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I think ebay listings experience seasonal lulls. Summer can be vacation time for many folks and in September attention is concentrated on back to school. There can be more of a flurry of concertina activity in October and November but not nearly as much as pre-2009. I seem to remember "fighting" to buy an online concertina 6 or 7 years ago. Could ne that the concertina buying market has become more "mature" and with that more selective or perhaps some of the crowd chasing our favorite instrument is on to the next new thing. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Taylor Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Maybe the bulk of UK concertinas do not show up on NA eBay searches because I do not see anything like 50 concertinas available. I search from within an Android app which knows where I live so perhaps it only shows me concertinas from sellers that have specifically stated that they would ship to Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I search from within an Android app which knows where I live so perhaps it only shows me concertinas from sellers that have specifically stated that they would ship to Canada. I guess this to be the case as soon as you stick to eBay Canada - but you should be able to view eBay US or UK and see what's available there, just insert the specific URL... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Taylor Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I search from within an Android app which knows where I live so perhaps it only shows me concertinas from sellers that have specifically stated that they would ship to Canada. I guess this to be the case as soon as you stick to eBay Canada - but you should be able to view eBay US or UK and see what's available there, just insert the specific URL... Wolf: Did you follow the listing of that nice looking Excelsior that Chris put up three times before getting a single bid of 800 pounds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Wolf: Did you follow the listing of that nice looking Excelsior that Chris put up three times before getting a single bid of 800 pounds? Yes I did, and I was really tempted to get it as a replacement instrument since at a lovely session, or should I say playaround, in Sweden this year I lost a pad whilst playing which caused a terrible non-fundamental drone (took me some time to notice that it was myself who'd been producing this strange noise along with the intended notes) - but I simply couldn't afford it at even that low price presently... Did you think about buying it yourself - or even did that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrtle's cook Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Perhaps one's perceptions of Ebay are also framed by what one is looking out for? Around a year ago at least two Aeola baritone trebles (or were they treble baritones) appeared on Ebay at the same time. I notice there are two Morse tenors on at the moment within the UK. Perhaps they are like the proverbial English buses, wait for ages then two (or more!) turn up at once. Its seems with Ebay that when casual window shopping turns into temptation, that's when the fun and/or danger start. ...will my partner notice another black concertina as long as I don't have both of them out at the same time... ...'it was way, way below the price I would normally have expected to pay...'. Although, as I noticed on a recent Mudcat guitar related thread, 'I just hope that if I predecease my wife, she doesn't sell by guitars [replace with 'concertinas'] for what I claimed to have paid for them!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Although, as I noticed on a recent Mudcat guitar related thread, 'I just hope that if I predecease my wife, she doesn't sell by guitars [replace with 'concertinas'] for what I claimed to have paid for them!' Well, maybe she should, might be better as for her remembrance of her husband... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Fahey Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Yes, it IS weird ... when I search from Australia and go to ebay.com- which I thought it was taking me to 'international' .. I get 3 used concertinas. I just tried again and looked for 'worldwide' same result. I will use the UK site from now on. I am always looking for the perfect EC and since my recent query regarding recommended top notch new EC proved disappointing (everyone advised sticking to my original edeo and aola) I keep looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceemonster Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 [[Has the number of concertinas on offer reduced dramatically]] i have discerned a very dramatic fall-off, but over the last ten or twelve years rather than recently. with anglos yes, but i'm thinking particularly with ECs---in the oughts there were frequent listings of what i now realize were very, very nice ones--metal-ended, edeos, aeolas, TTs, all kinds of stuff. now months can go by before something of quality appears...yes, you see "lots" of concertinas, but the bulk are ecs (and a few maccanns) in the not-terribly-nice range, lower-end lachenal anglos. i think it's two factors--one, there is a limited pool of vintage stuff, and as time passes, you see fewer. two, and this would be particular to ECs since the anglo craze seems to have burned through most of the forest it could burn through----ec prices started to rise but have frozen or gone down, yet speculators and dealers are not responding by lowering prices. instead, they're holding on the bet that this will be rewarded as cash gets more plentiful. not so sure about that....the tough times may have done something permanent to the way people calculate "value" when contemplating a concertina purchase... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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